At first she thought it was a bad cold. A few days later, on a Tuesday, she saw a walk-in clinic doctor who diagnosed pneumonia.

By Friday, the 27-year-old woman was in an induced coma on life support at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. She would not wake up until mid-December.

Kroetsch was one of about 1,000 “severe hospital cases” treated by B.C. doctors during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. The flu impacted mostly young, healthy people, claiming 57 lives in B.C. and 18,000 worldwide.

Five years later, Kroetsch was back at Royal Columbian to reflect on her brush with death and visit one of the doctors who saved her life.

“I’m alive today because of everyone who helped me,” she said in an interview Friday morning.

On Oct. 23, 2009, Kroetsch’s boyfriend (who is now her husband) called an ambulance because she looked “grey.”

She was diagnosed with H1N1 at Burnaby General and transported to the intensive-care unit at Royal Columbian, which was set up to deal with the pandemic. Her lungs were so infected, she was put on a ventilator and almost immediately after, an ECMO machine that gave her lungs a break by oxygenating her blood.

When she failed to improve after several days, surgeons performed a bedside surgery to remove infected tissue behind her lung. Her necrotic left lung was removed shortly after in another operation.

“My family says they didn’t know if I’d survive,” said Kroetsch. “It was really up and down.”

In mid-December, she was finally well enough to be slowly brought out of the coma. She wondered if she was dying until her family explained that she’d been in hospital for several weeks.

“My family was so excited that I was better, and I was thinking ‘You’re telling me I’m better?’” Kroetsch recalled. “I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t walk. For me that was the beginning of the battle.”

It was a long one. First, she needed to be weaned from the ventilator. She also needed one more surgery and extensive rehabilitation.

“I just wanted to get better, so I did whatever I had to do,” she said.

Royal Columbian ICU Dr. Steve Reynolds said he was impressed by the strength Kroetsch showed through her ordeal.

“Alex was terrified, sore and exhausted, but instead of giving up, she just worked harder. I had to give her permission to take a break (during rehabilitation),” he said.

Kroetsch returned home in April 2010, ready for life to get “back to normal.”

In the four and a half years since, she’s married and had a baby. Her daughter Evie Vigue is 17 months old. She and her family have also become strong supporters of the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.

Reynolds said the H1N1 pandemic was remarkable because it struck young, healthy people and seemed to “come out of nowhere.” There have been four flu pandemics since 1918, each with increasing global implications as travel becomes easier.

But the infectious disease specialist is confident in B.C.’s health system, as hospitals and public health become better at working together. Emerging viruses are constantly being tracked, he said.

As for Kroetsch, the new mom doesn’t spend much time wondering why the flu hit her so hard.

“When you’re in a situation where you’re really sick, you don’t wonder why me. You do what you have to do ... Really, I’m just extremely grateful that I was here (at Royal Columbian) and that they were able to save me.”

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Until flu season is officially over, you won't see Lori Ard at a shopping mall or large gathering of people. If you spot her at the Cleveland Clinic for a doctor's appointment, her face will be obscured by a mask.

These are the precautions Ard now takes to keep from getting sick.

"It's irrational, I'm kind of nervous," Ard, 33, of Windham, Ohio, told a Plain Dealer reporter at her parents' house last week. But it's not, really, given what she has endured for nearly a year.

In the first few days of 2014, life was great for Ard and her boyfriend, Matt Renton. They were in love and talking about a future together.

All of that would change dramatically. The flu virus would end up killing Renton, 35, and leaving Ard gravely ill, fighting for her life.

For years, Ard has known the importance of getting an annual flu shot, and she did so without fail.

She was a 20-year-old interior design student at Kent State University when she was first diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis, also known as GPA or Wegener's, in 2001. For her, the rare autoimmune disease meant frequent flare-ups of joint pain, upper respiratory issues and the deterioration of cartilage in her nose -- along with frequent hospital stays. But for the past five years, Ard's Wegener's had been well-controlled with medication.

Because the drugs she had to take compromised her immune system, Ard made sure to get her flu shot every year, and keep updated on her pneumonia shot.

She became a regular at the Clinic. At one point, over several years, she would come in every few months for a steroid injection in order to expand her airway.

Her keen awareness of what she needed to do to remain healthy wouldn't be enough, however, to prepare Ard for the nightmare that would change her life forever.

The flu virus was widespread in Ohio in January 2014. A week into the year, the virus hit Renton and Ard, seemingly out of nowhere. One afternoon, Renton began having body aches, a fever and chills. The next morning, Ard was sick, too.

Initially, neither Renton nor Ard sought medical attention. In hindsight, Ard said they should have been less stubborn and not let so much time go by before seeking help for what they knew was the flu.

But when their symptoms started getting worse, and included vomiting, they started to worry.

"We were just getting beat and worn down, and nothing was making us feel better," Ard said.

Diagnosed with a sinus infection, Renton got a prescription for an antibiotic. A couple days later, Ard got a prescription to treat her nausea.

Shortly before midnight on Jan. 12 – about a week after the onset of his initial symptoms – Renton collapsed. Ard called 911; an ambulance rushed him to St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital.

By the time a very sick Ard made it there, Renton had died. She had a chance to see him one last time, but barely had time to grieve before she, too, ended up in hospitalized several hours later because of breathing difficulty.

While Renton's family made funeral arrangements, Ard remained at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna. Forbidden from leaving the hospital, Ard watched by Skype on a laptop while visitors comforted Renton's family during calling hours at a Youngstown funeral home on Jan. 18 of last year.

Flu complications lead to lung transplant

Ard's condition continued to deteriorate. About a week later, after one of her lungs collapsed, doctors placed Ard into a medically induced coma and transferred her to the Cleveland Clinic. Upon her arrival, the Clinic placed a call to St. Elizabeth Boardman to find out Renton's exact cause of death. It was complications of the flu – more specifically, the H1N1 strain – and pneumonia.

Toward the end of last year's flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that young adults like Renton were disproportionately affected by H1N1, also known as the "swine flu." And adults ages 18-64 accounted for roughly 60 percent of all hospitalizations.

By mid-January 2014, the flu was responsible for more than 800 flu-related hospitalizations in Ohio, with H1N1 the dominant strain.

Lab tests quickly confirmed that Ard, too, had H1N1. An X-ray showed that she also had developed pneumonia. She was in respiratory failure.

The immunosuppressive medication Ard had been taking to help treat her condition likely shut down her body's capacity to clear the flu from her system. That, in turn, set off acute respiratory distress, Turowski said.

"In Lori's case, a bomb went off in her lungs," he said.

The severity of Ard's condition was rare, Turowski said. What's more common is that people get better – or they don't and they die.

At first, Ard required a ventilator to help her breathe. When her oxygen levels struggled to stay as high as they needed to be, doctors placed her on a heart-lung machine.

Still, her lungs weren't healing on their own. In another 14 days, they would sustain irreversible damage. Doctors told her family to begin preparing for the inevitable - disconnecting her from the heart-lung machine and, if she lived, sending her to a nursing home.

At the same time, the team of doctors that for years had been treating Ard for Wegener's met with the doctors who were trying to keep her alive, and with the Clinic's transplant committee. Everyone reached the consensus that Ard's survival depended on a lung transplant.

With her family's consent, the Clinic placed Ard – still in a coma – on the national lung transplant wait list.

As soon as Ard had arrived at the Clinic, one of her regular physicians had made a note in her chart ordering that no hospital staff discuss Renton's death in Ard's presence. Even though she was not conscious, he feared that "hearing" about of what happened to Renton – especially if she had forgotten about it – would cause her to give up her fight to live.

Two days after being placed on the transplant wait list, Ard had a potential donor, a woman close to her age. Ard was the right blood type, size and antibody match.

After doctors verified that the flu virus had cleared from Ard's body, she received a new set of lungs on Feb. 13.

Virus turns deadly, robs couple of future together

On Feb. 19 – her mother's birthday – Ard woke up long enough to be told about all that she had endured.

At first she was confused about where she was.

"I remember panicking, because I couldn't talk and I couldn't move," she said.

But once she remembered that she was in the hospital, the nurses decided it was time for her family to tell her everything that had happened.

As her mother began the task of jogging Ard's memory about the days in the hospital before being sedated, Ard looked around the room to see if Renton was there, too.

She had experienced such vivid nightmares while unconscious – one in which her father saved her from something unknown, another in which her mouth was sewn shut – that for a split second, she thought that maybe, just maybe, Renton's death was a bad nightmare, too.

After nearly three months in the hospital, Ard finally went home on April 7. She moved in with her mother and stepfather, returning to the house in Windham where she grew up.

While she was in the hospital, Ard's and Renton's family and friends had cleared out all of the couple's belongings from their rented Poland Township house they had lived in for nearly three years. They knew she wouldn't want to return there.

The two had met in 2010 at a Halloween party at her mother and stepfather's house. He was best friends with her sister's boyfriend. She was a 1900s Victorian woman (she had sewn her own dress). He was supposed to be some "Italian Jersey guy." Instead, he thought she was a vampire, because she was so pale. She thought he was in an Elvis costume.

"We hit it off right away," she said.

When Ard was laid off from her accounting job at Goodyear, the two decided to move in together. They had been dating for six months.

"He always made me laugh. And he was the only person I ever dated that I was myself around. I could do goofy things and not feel self-conscious. He was a good friend and a good partner to have."

Until getting the flu that killed him, Renton, was healthy, Ard said. He worked outdoors for a roofing company. "He never got sick; he never missed work," she said.

Although he indulged in the occasional cigar or pipe, Renton had quit cigarettes when he and Ard began dating – and never smoked around her, she said.

Renton never got a flu shot. His reasoning, Ard said, was that if he got the flu, he would just deal with it.

Ard, on the other hand, always got hers at the beginning of flu season, usually in October.

"I should have used that. I should have said, 'Well, [do it] for me," she said. "Oh, God ... I should have done that. I never ever thought of that..."

Adjusting to a new life

Being a lung transplant recipient comes with lots of adjustments. Some are small, like giving up favorite foods (pasta and Mexican food now upset her stomach too much) and gardening.

Some adjustments are much bigger. Even though she spent her last month at the Clinic in a physical therapy unit to help regain her strength, being motionless for two months had taken its toll on her body. She tires easily and often has to contend with migraines.

It wasn't until last summer that Ard was able to get around without a walker. By then she had also progressed to going up and down the steps without having to hold onto a railing.

As much as she loves her parents, she longs for more independence. Now that she can walk unassisted again, even if it's just for short distances, and drive, she's getting closer to that goal, and hopes to be able to get a place of her own and work full-time again, maybe doing sewing or interior design.

Ard takes 21 different medications a day. They include a new batch of immunosuppression drugs to prevent her body from rejecting her new lungs, which she says work better in keeping her Wegener's in check than her previous medications.

"I actually feel better than I have in a long time," she said recently.

Her one-year post-transplant appointment is coming up in February, and will include a lung biopsy – her seventh since the surgery – X-rays, and breathing tests. It's the 18-month appointment she is most looking forward to, though, when she hopes to get the OK to stop having to take some of her medication.

The one-year mark also means Ard can write a letter to the family of the woman whose lungs she received. She wants to thank them, but has no idea what to say.

"I think about this person every day, I wonder what she liked to do," Ard said. If she found that out, "Maybe something I could do every year to honor her."

Ard also thinks about Renton every day.

There's lingering guilt that they should have heeded the seriousness of their initial symptoms much more. And that, somehow, they could have convinced the doctors who initially sent them home, that they needed more medical attention.

But mostly it's an overwhelming sense of loss for the man she loved.

And, just as when she first struggled to make sense of Renton's death a year ago, Ard continues to wrestle with the inconceivable.

"We're in our 30s," she said. "You don't die from the flu in your 30s."

]]>
Mon, 09 Feb 2015 06:54:29 +0000http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=31952&PID=228101&title=h1n1-survival-stories#228101http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32820&PID=228100&title=flu-hard-at-work-in-the-us-too#228100
Author: Jen147Subject: Flu Hard At Work In The U.S. TooPosted: February 09 2015 at 6:44am

US flu slowing, but 8 more children have died

40 states have widespread flu activity

Feb 06, 2015

(CNN) —The flu is still hitting the United States hard, but fewer people seem to be getting sick and the number of new infections seems to be slowing down from week to week.

That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors cases throughout the country.

The data comes from the week ending January 31 based on pneumonia and influenza mortality surveillance. The season is still above epidemic levels, as is typical during flu season.

Epidemic means that the number of cases is higher than usual. Forty states reported widespread flu activity, and 26 states and Puerto Rico reported high levels of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI).

Eight more children have died after having the flu, bringing the number of pediatric deaths to 69.

The very young and very old are the most susceptible to potentially deadly symptoms of the flu, as are people with chronic medical conditions.

In this flu season, the H3N2 strain of the virus was found in most of the samples taken from people who were sick. That strain is "nastier," causing more hospitalizations than other strains, said Dr. Tom Frieden, CDC's director.

Most people who were hospitalized for flu in the past week were over age 65. Adults with cardiovascular disease and children with asthma also were more likely to be hospitalized.

If you have a fever, chills, a stuffy nose and sore throat, chances are you have the flu. The CDC suggests you go to your doctor if you suspect this is the case.

Antivirals can shorten the length of time you'll be sick if you get them into your system within the first 24 to 48 hours. A lot of doctors don't offer them, according to a CDC study, so you might have to ask for them specifically. So far this year, they have been effective.

]]>
Mon, 05 Jan 2015 20:13:12 +0000http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32781&PID=228088&title=cdc-map#228088http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32820&PID=228087&title=flu-hard-at-work-in-the-us-too#228087
Author: Jen147Subject: Flu Hard At Work In The U.S. TooPosted: January 05 2015 at 8:08pm

Flu Now Widespread in 43 States, CDC Reports

1/5/15

The annual influenza outbreak has reached widespread levels in 43 states - up from 36 states a week ago.

New figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that six more children have died from flu, including three kids in Tennessee, making for 21 pediatric deaths this flu season.

Flu activity typically waxes and wanes during the coldest months. While the nation reached an epidemic level of flu last week, the portion of weekly flu-and pneumonia-related deaths - 6.8 percent of all deaths - dipped below the epidemic threshold for the first week of January.

Flu generally hits hardest in the very young and the very old. Depending on the season and the strain, it can kill anywhere between 4,000 and 50,000 people each year in the United States.

CDC still says people should get a flu vaccine to guard against infection. Frequent hand washing is also a great defense. Flu is typically spread via close contact with an ill person who is sneezing or coughing, or by touching the expelled droplets, then placing your fingers into your eyes, nose or mouth.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Two more people have died from the flu in the Nashville area as of Monday afternoon.

The patients were ages 36 and 86, but further details such as their gender have yet to be released.

They are among 5 flu-related deaths total in Davidson and seven other surrounding counties so far this season.

To date, 450 people have been hospitalized in the Middle Tennessee area with confirmed cases of influenza.

Doctors and health officials have previously warned this season is expected to be worse with more cases and harsher symptoms.

Part of the reason is because the strain of flu going around, H3N2, is different from the strain typically held off by the vaccine, H1N1. The current strain mutated, causing some to remain susceptible despite getting the flu shot.

Everyone is still encouraged to get the shot if they haven’t already. It still protects against other strains of the flu as well as softens the symptoms when and if the flu is contracted.

Parents: Young Son Died In Father's Arms While Waiting To Be Seen At Hospital KY

Jan 01, 2015

A Boone County father says his young son died in his arms waiting to be treated for the flu at a Florence Hospital.

According to relatives, 6-year-old Mikey Guallpa was a bouncy bubbly first-grader who had asthma. But despite that setback, he was still full of energy.

On December 20, everything changed. Guallpa's father rushed him to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Florence.

Mikey had been to the doctor earlier for the flu, but days later his father says Mikey was shaking and vomiting as he carried him into the hospital. Instead of attending to the child immediately, Mikey's parents say they were told to wait in the hospital waiting room.

"They should have got to him earlier when we were asking for help, when we were begging to, you know, he needs help. He's not okay, but they were looking at us like we were crazy,” says Zara Jimbo, Mikey's mother.

20 minutes later, they say Mikey vomited again and then passed out in his father's arms. They say it was only after they screamed like mad for help that the hospital finally attended to their son.

By then, it was too late.

"It's not right, just please look at him. Lady all what she got to say was just wait for your turn. What? Wait for my turn to see my son die?" says Jose Guallpa.

Mikey was pronounced dead a short time later.

"This is not a hardware store or grocery store. This is a hospital about health. It's like health, helping people, saving lives,” says Zara Jimbo.

A St. Elizabeth Hospital spokesman released a statement that reads in part:

“We are unable to comment or release any specific information. As an organization, St. Elizabeth takes protecting the privacy of our patients' protected information very seriously."

]]>
Mon, 05 Jan 2015 06:25:07 +0000http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=30765&PID=228085&title=us-cases-fatalities#228085http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32820&PID=228084&title=flu-hard-at-work-in-the-us-too#228084
Author: Jen147Subject: Flu Hard At Work In The U.S. TooPosted: December 30 2014 at 11:08pm

'Severe' flu season could grip US, CDC doc warns

December 31, 2014

A deadly influenza strain has the U.S. in the grip of what could develop into a "severe" flu season, with widespread cases already reported in 36 states, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert said Tuesday.

The H3N2 strain, the most common flu virus this season, began mutating shortly after U.S. health experts created this year's vaccine -- rendering it less effective compared to past flu vaccines, Dr. Michael Jhung, a medical officer with the CDC's influenza division, told FoxNews.com.

The H3N2 virus was predominant during the 2012-13, 2007-08 and 2003-04 flu seasons, the CDC said earlier this month. Because it's been associated with particularly harsh flu seasons in the past, the CDC believes the 2014-15 season could be a "severe" one, Jhung said.

But he cautioned that this year's flu season -- which began in late November and is expected to continue through April -- won't be "terribly severe."

"We're seeing things that we see every year," Jhung said. "We're not seeing dramatically higher levels of flu activity than we see every year."

The CDC says that those at high risk from influenza include children younger than 5 years (especially those younger than 2 years); adults 65 years and older; pregnant women; and people with certain chronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart or lung disease, and kidney disease.

So far, the CDC has recorded 15 flu-related deaths in children across the U.S. this season, though Jhung said it's too soon to make comparisons to past years. Overall, there were 109 flu-related deaths in kids last year, and 171 in the 2012-13 season. There were more hospitalizations so far this year compared to the same time in the previous two seasons, however.

The CDC does not compile similar data for flu-related deaths in adults.

Jhung said that because this year's vaccine might not be as effective as that of past years, people at high risk from the flu, including the elderly, young children and people with underlying chronic medical conditions should obtain flu anti-virals.

And he said Americans who haven't gotten the vaccine yet should get it, adding that only 40 percent of people who the CDC believes should get vaccinated have done so thus far.

"We're not even halfway through the flu season," he said. "It's certainly not too late to get vaccinated."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tennessee is now one of 36 states where the flu is considered widespread.

Doctors said at least one strain of the flu has mutated, meaning the flu shot is only partially effective.

While the virus is changing, the steps to prevent its spread have not.

As always, doctors recommend washing your hands often, covering your mouth, staying at home if you're sick and getting the flu vaccine. Even though the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, doctors said some protection is better than none at all.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center said there have been 325 confirmed flu cases in Davidson County and the seven surrounding counties this season. As of Tuesday morning, there have been three deaths from flu complications.

State officials say three children in Tennessee have died of complications from the flu in the last month.

Two deaths occurred in Middle Tennessee and one was reported in East Tennessee. The latest deaths bring the total number of flu-related child deaths to six, which is higher than normal.

“We are expecting a severe flu season” Department of Health spokeswoman Shelley Walker told the Knoxville News Sentinel. “Every flu season is different, but we typically see 2-3 child deaths a year from the flu.”

Healthcare professionals say they’ve seen a high number of cases so far this year.

Darci Hodge, a registered nurse and director of infection control at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, said there’s been more flu cases this month than in any December over the last five years.

She said there had been 446 flu cases as of Monday, compared with 398 in December 2012, which had been the high.

Dr. Don Arnold, a pediatric emergency room doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told WSMV-TV that there have been “hundreds and hundreds of cases of influenza in children this season.”

Doctors recommend taking precautions such as washing hands and not touching eyes, hands and nose after interacting with those who may be sick.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Health says there have been three pediatric deaths caused by the flu this season.

Two of those deaths were in Middle Tennessee and the third was in the eastern part of the state.

No details have been released on what counties the deaths occurred.

According to state health officials, there has been a steady increase of flu cases this season. They are urging people to get vaccinated if they have not done so already.

“Early indications suggest this could be a more severe flu season than we have had for some time,” said TDH Commissioner John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH. “Vaccination is likely to reduce the risk of severe illness even if not all strains are matched to the vaccine throughout the season. Because a flu vaccine is still the best protection, get it now if you have not done so.”

]]>
Sun, 21 Dec 2014 10:36:27 +0000http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32781&PID=228077&title=cdc-map#228077http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32820&PID=228076&title=flu-hard-at-work-in-the-us-too#228076
Author: Jen147Subject: Flu Hard At Work In The U.S. TooPosted: December 12 2014 at 5:34am

Flu 'widespread' in Minnesota, Health Department reports

December 12, 2014

Sixty-five Minnesotans were hospitalized with flu-like symptoms last week and the virus reached “widespread” status across the state, the Health Department said Thursday in the latest sign that this year’s flu season will be harsher than most.

The new designation means that influenza has been detected in four of the eight reporting districts in the state, which has also reported 64 school outbreaks of influenza-like illness and seven outbreaks in long-term care facilities so far this season.

The number of Minnesotans hospitalized during the week ending Dec. 6 marked the highest total for the first week of December in the past six years.

Since the flu season started, more than 185 Minnesotans have been hospitalized with flu symptoms, with many cases involving a specific influenza A strain that has been known in previous years to cause more severe illnesses.

“The dominant strain appears to be H3, which in previous seasons meant there were more hospitalizations, more deaths and more disease in general,” said Karen Martin, a state health epidemiologist.

H3 flu strains have historically been hardest on the elderly and on very young children, Martin said, adding, “but we are seeing an incredible amount of school outbreaks right now.”

In St. Paul, about 10 schools have reported flu-like outbreaks in the last two weeks, even though the district has been promoting vaccination and hand-washing, and urging students to stay home if they have a fever or other flu symptoms.

“It’s a little earlier than other school years, but it still seems to be very spotty,” said Mary Yackley, the district’s supervisor for health and wellness. Some schools in the district have reported no increase in absenteeism, she said.

St. Paul schools are offering vaccinations for students and families at academic activities and conferences.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the number of patients visiting a health care provider with flu-like symptoms was running ahead of the average year, but the number of hospital-confirmed cases was about average.

Six other states and Puerto Rico had also reported widespread flu activity as of Nov. 29, a sharp increase from the previous week, and that number seemed sure to rise when the CDC issues its own update for the week ending Dec. 6.

In Minnesota, state health officials are still encouraging people to get flu shots, despite reports that the vaccine is less effective this year and poorly matched to the dominant strains in circulation. Flu season typically does not peak until sometime between December and February, so people could still contract the virus for several weeks to come. In an interview with the Star Tribune published Thursday, Mayo Clinic pediatrician and vaccine researcher Robert Jacobson said even though the protection is weaker it’s still protection.

“People who get the flu shot have better protection even when there’s a mismatch … and they’re less likely to spread the flu to someone else,” he said.

The Minnesota Department of Health has reported one pediatric death related to the flu so far this year. The death of an Owatonna High School teenager on Tuesday came after she suffered flu-like illness, but it could take days or weeks before tests confirm whether influenza played any role. Her high school is among the schools that reported to the state that more than 5 percent of its students were absent due to influenza-like illness.

Flu achieves the “widespread” designation in Minnesota almost every influenza season. Last season, the designation was announced in late December, but often influenza doesn’t reach that level in the state until after the New Year.

]]>
Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:34:30 +0000http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32820&PID=228076&title=flu-hard-at-work-in-the-us-too#228076http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=32820&PID=228075&title=flu-hard-at-work-in-the-us-too#228075
Author: Jen147Subject: Flu Hard At Work In The U.S. TooPosted: December 12 2014 at 5:31am

Two Confirmed H1N1 Flu Cases in Calhoun County SC

December 8, 2014

Flu season in the Midlands is in full swing and the number of reported cases is already coming in.

Calhoun County, SC (WLTX) - Flu season in the Midlands is in full swing and the number of reported cases is already coming in.

This time last year a total of five people in our state died from the flu...during this flu season six people have already died.

"This year has been very mild," said Dr. William Braswell.

Dr. Braswell at St. Mathews Family Practice in Calhoun County says despite the slow start; the virus can spread quickly.

"A lot of people were not immunized this year, the flu mist were underutilized, the flu shots were underutilized"

Over the past two weeks two students at Calhoun County High School and St. Mathews Middle School were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus.

"Last week we saw a few cases, this week we saw a few cases and you just expect it to break out in the community. But the last couple times and over the last few months that didn't happen. Maybe people are more aware, the schools keep them out, of course we don't let them go back to school. "

Dr. Braswell says the most common way that the flu is spread is from hand to nose contact.

He says the best way to keep from getting the virus is to make sure you wash your hands frequently.

If you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, Braswell suggests that you get the flu mist instead because it is a strong immunization.

"The flu mist is a superior vaccine, the flu shot lasts only three months and it doesn't protect the systems that are going to be affected, which is the nose and upper airway. People that are healthy have almost a one year or two year coverage with it. So if you have someone that gets two flu mists a year, there could be up to 8 flu variations that you are immune to."